1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print information processing system which processes information for printing the information in the form of a human-readable image and a machine-readable code image on a print medium, and reproducing original information represented by the machine-readable code image printed on the print medium.
2) Description of the Related Art
Generally, contents of printed matters such as books, newspapers, magazines, and the like can be recognized by readers based on printed data. Conventionally, only human-readable data, which are visually recognizable, are printed in printed matters for providing readers with information. That is, data printed on books, magazines, and the like are characters, figures, photographs, and the like. Although a one-dimensional bar code may be printed on covers of books, the one-dimensional bar code are used for representing commodity codes, and not used for providing readers with information.
However, in the case where the printed matters are teaching materials or dictionaries, readers of the printed matters may wish to listen to pronunciation of a printed word, or hear voice of a bird in a photograph printed in a printed matter. In addition, it is preferable that an explanation on movement of machines or planets is accompanied by a moving picture indicating the movement. Further, when a monochrome photograph is printed in a printed matter, a user may wish to see a colored image of the photograph.
Conventionally, when sound or a moving picture is required in a printing matter in addition to printed information, a recording medium storing data of the sound or the moving picture, such as a cassette tape, a CD (compact disk), and a videotape, is attached to the printing matter.
In the conventional electronic dictionaries, electronic books, or the like, specific characters or pictographs may be each linked with other text data, sound data, image data, or the like. Since these data linked with the specific characters or pictographs in the electronic dictionaries, electronic books, or the like are digitized, users can easily reproduce and refer to the linked data.
On the other hand, digital data can be printed in the form of a machine-readable code. A typical example is the one-dimensional bar code, which is comprised of a series of lines and represents data by combination of thicknesses of the respective lines and spaces between the lines. The one-dimensional bar code is mainly used for representing control data which are needed in circulation of commodity or merchandise control.
However, since the amount of data which can be represented by a one-dimensional bar code is very small, it is not possible to represent a great amount of data such as sound data. On the other hand, two-dimensional codes are known as machine-readable codes which can represent a great amount of data. The two-dimensional codes are comprised of, for example, an array of black and white squared dots forming a matrix, and can represent a greater amount of data in a small area, compared with the one-dimensional bar code. Therefore, data which can be represented by the two-dimensional codes are not limited to the control data in circulation of commodity or merchandise control. That is, the two-dimensional codes can represent various data.